Washington, DC Tuesday, June 25, 2013 The Supreme Court announced an opinion in Shelby County v. Holder, a case that challenged a provision of the voting rights act. The Court ruled 5-4 Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the decision for the Court. From the decision: “It’s formula can no longer be used as a basis for subjecting jurisdictions to pre-clearance.” Shelby County v. Holder challenges the validity of a section of the Voting Rights Act that requires certain districts to get official approval before changing their voting procedures. The original intent of this section was to prevent any jurisdiction from enacting changes to their voting laws that prevented certain classes of people from voting. The plaintiff in this case is asking the court to strike down these provisions as unconstitutional. The Court held that the specific formula in Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act can no longer be used for subjecting jurisdictions to preclearance before changing their voting laws. The decision states that Congress can develop another formula to be used, if it chooses. From the decision: "Our decision in no way affects the permanent, nationwide ban on racial discrimination in voting found in [Section] 2. We issue no holding on [Section] 5 itself, only on the coverage formula. Congress may draft another formula based on current conditions" Because enforcement of Section 5 depends on the formula in Section 4, the ruling effectively stops preclearance until a point when Congress can develop a new formula.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 22:53:22 +0000
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